Methods will be developed for the reconstitution of a variety of membrane transport systems into planar lipid bilayers. Their properties will be analyzed by following conductance changes in the bilayer under voltage clamp conditions. I will examine voltage dependence, kinetics, channel size and selectivity. Most of this work will be done on a channel from mitochondria which I, in collaboration with Mr. Stanley Schein and Dr. Alan Finkelstein, have discovered and incorporated into planar bilayers. This channel (called VDAC) will be purified and its physical and chemical properties will be analyzed. Its function in the mitochondrion will be explored both biochemically and genetically (using yeast mitochondria). VDAC's phylogeny will also be explored by examining mitochondria from different species.